Nasal and sinus protector and warmer



A ril 26, 1949. v w. E. TIFFANY 2,468,383

NASAL AND SINUS PROTECTOR AND WARMER Filed Feb. 13, 1948 Bnventor Wf/liam 5- Tiffan (Ittornegs Patented Apr. 26, 1949 UNI-TED STAT ES; PAT E N T' QFFI E NASAL AND 'SINUS) BRQFIEGTOR AND." WARMER- William E. Tiffany, Shawnee, Okla.

Application February 13, 19.48 Shri'aiiNO. 8,091;

(Cl.,128.l-1.48)

Claims. 1,;

This invention relates toa device for. protecting nasal. and. sinus tissues, from. the. efiects of cold air, smoke, pollen, dust and. the like, and, more particularly to. a. device utilizing body heat and exhaled breath for warming air being inhaled and warming the'nasal. and-sinus areas, the. inhaled air being suitably filtered if desired.

Persons havingv sensitive nasal. and sinus tissues often experience considerable-discomfort inwinter Weather, due to irritating effects of. cold air inhaled through the, nose-and. contacting sinus passages. The. cold air causes some people, to have. the effect of. acommon cold, Others have headaches or. pain. around the sinus areas and. in some cases the reactionis similar. to. an asthmatic condition. It. has been found that many of the persons having. the difiiculties. due to cold. air do not have any diffi'culty in awarm room. Also available humidity isreducedin the presence of extreme cold. Therefore, the inhalation of. cold air results in the drying out of1nasal'membranes,

The principal objects of the present, invention are to provide a device for protecting sensitive nasal and sinus areas from contact with cold air; to. provide a device shaped. to substantially conform to facial contours for covering various facial areas and warm said, areas by exhaled breath; to provide. a device utilizing exhaled breath. andbody heat for warming inhaled air; to provide a device which will'warm air inhaled and, the nose for retarding the loss ofmoisture by the nasal membranes; to provide a device which can be made of desirable size and color to match the face ofthe wearer, cover selected areas andwarm same by exhaled breath. and; body heat to protect said areas most sensitive to cold air; and to provide a simple efiicient device, relatively comfortable to wear for protecting nasal and sinus areas.

In accomplishing these and other objects of the present invention, Ihave provided improved details ofstructure, the preferredforms'of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings; wherein:

Fig. 1-is a perspective-view of a nasal and sinus protector and warmer as mounted ona wearer.-

Fig. 2ris a horizontal1sectional View on the-line 23-2, Fig. 1.

Fig, 3 is a perspective view of the rear of the protector and Warmer showingthe openportions of the device wherein inhaled and exhaled air contact the skin of the .wearer.

Fig. 45. is, atransverse sectional viewon i the. line 4,-4, Fig. 3.

Referring morev in. detail to the drawings:

l5 designates. a nasal: and sinus protector and warmer pref erably; molded-of:- transparent plasti glass cloth, paper, papier-mach-on other: shitable material: preferably. impervious on of, such ROIOS-ity -thfitthe passage of. air. therethroughwill have'immater-ial, effect; on the temperature inside the protector. The material. may be colored to substantially; match the; color of the face. of. the wearer.

The device; consists of a mask] having athin wall 3. shaped. to, conform tothe facial contours ofthe wearer whereby. thewalls of the. mask cover various sensitive. facial. areas,v and aresuitably. spaced therefrom, as at 4. In-the-particw lar. arrangement: as. shown, the. mask. Z has; a bottoml wall- 5. adaptedtobe. spaced-slightly.- below the lower. portion. of the nostrils, therear. edge 6. of. saidbottom being shaped.- to have substantially. complete engagement, with. the face below the.-nosB-.- The sides and frontportion of the:bot.-. tom 5. join. as-at l with upwardly and inwardly extending sidewalls 8, said side wallssbein oonrnected at, their. forward. portions, by. an. arcuate portion. of, the. mask. 2, v the. walls 8 and portion,v 1 alLbeing. shaped to conform-tmthe contours of thenose of; the. wearer to provide. a space-betweensaidnose andsaid portionsrof the mask, therean edges 0.. of the. Walls. 8. being shaped:to;subs.tanr tiallgg engage. the. facial, contours. It, is, to beunderstood that the size and shape of. themask 2 varies depending on the. person and. the v areas toebe covered,, for. example the mouth. and/on other. areas. of. the face, if. desired, the: openingv ll. at. the rear of. the maskbeing. slightlylar er. than .thef aciaLareas toloev covered.

The. mask. may. be terminated; just above the. eyes. if desired.- and: suitable means provided for securing. the mask.to,the face, howeverit ispref. erable that the protector, coverthe. sinus. areas located. above. the eyesof. the-wearer, Connected: to. the. mask.;2,, asat l2, arethe lower. walls I3lofx aforehead. coveringportion. M, the upperwall I5.- being spacediromthe. lower wall a.suitable-=dis,- tance. to cover: the desired area. of. the forehead of,,the .w.earer when, therear edges. lfi.of,the;walls. l3. engage the forehead justabove the eyebrowsl The rear edges,v llofthe'wall. l5 .are.shaped to have. contact. with. they forehead and the. walls. [3. and. I5 are. connected by, aionward wall. I Brspaced. forwardly of. the. rear. edges; L6... and, L1. to, providea. passage. Ia, between. the. wall. 18., and; the forehead of the wearer. The forward portion l8 .of. the. forehead.- covering member. connects with the forward. portion; 9 of: they mask. 2 and.the.. Wal1s-.. l.3 connect,with thewallsfl in .such .amannerthat the passage l9 has communication with the spaces 4 between the mask and the nose of the wearer whereby air may move from the passage l9 through the spaces t to the nostrils of the wearer for inhaling. Exhaled breath also travels through the spaces 6 and passage I9, the rear of the forehead member being open whereby the air will contact the skin on the forehead. The ends of the forehead covering member may terminate at the sides of said forehead and suitable fastening devices provided for securing the device to the wearer.

In the illustrated structure the ends of the forehead covering member terminate in curved portions connected with tubular members 2! adapted to extend over the ears, the rear of said tubular members being bent downwardly to form ear engaging members 22, the passage 23 in the tubular members serving as a flow passage for air breathed by the wearer. The ends of the member 22 may be extended whereby the inlet opening 24 is located beneath the clothes of the wearer or may be terminated at the rear of the ears as shown in Fig. 1. The air inlet openings may be located at any suitable point in the tubular bow members on mask for providing desired length of travel of air through the device. Filtering material 25 is inserted in the air passages between the inlet openings at the neck to provide for filtering the air of smoke, fumes, pollen, dust and the like, said filter may be moistened for moistening the air inhaled by the wearer if the humidity is low. The tubular bow members are preferably shaped to provide substantial contact between said members and the sides of the wearers head.

In using a device constructed as described and of such size and shape to conform to the particular facial contours of the wearer before entering a cold area, as by leaving a warm house and going outside during winter weather, the device is placed on the wearer in such a manner that the mask 2 covers the nose, the forehead portion l4 extends across the forehead, and the bows placed over the ears in such a manner that the edges 6, l0, l6 and ll all engage the skin of the wearer, with sufiicient pressure to substantially prevent air from escaping around the edges, yet lightly enough that there is no discomfort experienced by the wearer. As the person breathes, air is drawn through the filter 25 and passages 23 in the tubular bows 2i, absorbing some heat from the person by transmission thereof through the walls f the tubular members in contact with the side of the persons head. The air then passes through the passageway IS in contact with the skin of the forehead and through the spaces 4 to the nostrils. As the breath is exhaled it passes through the space 4, passageway l9, passage 23 and is discharged at the opening 24 of the tubular bows. Movement of the warm breath being exhaled warms the device and the skin contacted by the breath, that is the areas enclosed by the edges 6, IE], I6 and ll of the respective walls of the device. As the wearer then inhales, the cold outside air absorbs some of the heat transmitted to the walls of the device by the outgoing breath. In this manner, all the air breathed into the nose and in contact with the sinus tissues is warmed as are the nasal and sinus areas covered by the device, thereby protecting the sensitive areas of the person from the effects of the cold air.

It will, of course, be understood that the protection may be of any suitable shape and size to cover selected sensitive areas of the face and head to protect same from cold air and warm the areas by the breath of the person. Also changes may be made in the intake and passage of air through the space between the device and the face without departing from the invention.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a device of the character described, walls forming a mask adapted to cover the nose and selected areas of a persons face, said walls being spaced from the areas to be covered, edges on the walls substantially conforming to the facial contours adjacent the areas to be covered for engagement with the face, and means for securing the mask on the face, said means having an air passage therein communicating with the space between the walls and the covered portion of the face remotely of the nostril covering portion whereby air inhaled and exhaled by the person must pass through the'spaces in contact with the skin of the covered portion of the face.

2. A device of the character described comprising, walls of substantially impervious material forming a mask adapted to cover the nose and selected areas of a persons face, said walls being spaced from the areas to be covered, edges on the walls substantially conforming to the facial contours adjacent the areas to be covered for engagemen with the face, and tubular members each having one end shaped to engage over the ears of the person and having the other end connected with the walls of the mask, said tubular members having through passages therein communicating with the space between the walls and the covered portion of the face whereby air inhaled and exhaled by the person passes through the spaces in warming contact with the skin of the face and through the tubular members.

3. A device of the character described comprising, walls of material forming a mask adapted to cover the nose and selected areas of a persons face, said walls being spaced from the areas to be covered, edges on the walls substantially conforming to the facial contours adjacent the areas to be covered for engagement with the face, tubular members each having one end shaped to engage over the ears of the person and having the other end connected with the walls of the mask, said tubular members having through passages therein communicating with the space between the walls and the covered portion of the face, and air filters in the tubular members, whereby air inhaled and exhaled by the person passes through the spaces in warming contact with the skin of the face and through the tubular members and air filters therein.

a. A device of the character described comprising, a mask adapted to cover the nose, portions of the forehead immediately above the eyes and selected areas of a persons face in spaced relation thereto, edges on the mask substantially conforming to the facial contours adjacent the areas to be covered for engagement with the face, and tubular means for securing the mask on the face, said tubular means having passages therein communicating with the space between the mask and the covered portion of the forehead whereby air inhaled and exhaled by the person passes through the spaces in contact with the skin of the face warmin same.

5. A device of the character described comprising, an impervious mask adapted to cover the nose and selected areas of a persons face in spaced relation thereto, edges on the mask substantially conforming to the facial contours adjacent the REFERENCES CITED areas to be covered for engagement with the face, means on the mask remotely from the portion g igg gg fg are of record in the adjacent the nostril for securing the mask on the face, said means having passages therein com- 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS municating with the space between the mask and Number Name Date the covered portion of the face remotely of the 781 516 Guthrie Jan 31 1905 nostril covering portion whereby air inhaled and 1310:9139 Hngers 'l' Jail. 1917 exhaled by the person passes through all of the space between the nostrils of the person and the 10 passage in contact with the skin of the face warming same, and air filters in said passages. 

